Leonard Christian appears headed to state House in race against incumbent Rob Chase for Spokane Valley seat

Republican Leonard Christian likely will unseat Republican 4th Legislative District Rep. Rob Chase.

With just over 4,000 ballots left to count in the 4th Legislative District, Christian has 50.2% of the vote to Chase’s 47.3%. It’s extremely unlikely Chase can make up the 1,343-vote gap that separates the two candidates. Chase would have to win more-than two-thirds of the remaining vote to win.

Christian was in high spirits Friday night after seeing the latest vote count.

“I am living the great American dream,” he said. “I couldn’t be any happier.”

The race between the two in the August primary foreshadowed a close battle heading into the November election, though Christian remained the underdog. The former county treasurer won the primary by more than 3 percentage points.

Christian, who briefly served in the Legislature in 2014, said he believes heavily investing in TV ads pushed him to victory.

The real estate agent also said support from Democrats helped him.

“I definitely saw some of that coming along,” he said, noting that several Democrats asked him for yard signs and donated to his campaign. “It’s the hate vote against (Chase) and Matt Shea and all that they stand for.”

While Christian is a Republican, he stands apart from Chase on several key issues.

For instance, Chase has advocated for a return to the gold standard and endorsed COVID-19 and 2020 election conspiracy theories.

Chase could not immediately be reached for comment.

Christian said he plans to fight for legislation that returns authority to law enforcement agencies once he arrives in Olympia.

“I’m looking forward to working with everyone and anyone,” he said.